The B.C. Nurses Union says it’s disappointed a piece of legislation that would have stiffened penalties for people who assault health-care workers won’t go ahead.
Bill C-321 had nearly completed the federal legislative process and was just one vote away from becoming law, when it died on the order paper as a result of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to step down and the accompanying prorogation of Parliament.
The law, if passed would have amended the Criminal Code to make violence against first responders and health-care workers an aggravating factor during sentencing.
“We will certainly start over. The advocacy will not die. But it is very disappointing,” said Adriane Gear, president of the B.C. Nurses Union.
Gear said the law would have sent an important signal both to the public as well as to health-care workers, who feel their safety is being overlooked.
Bill C-321, a private member’s bill sponsored by B.C. MP Todd Dorhety was just one of several pieces of legislation with a future now in question.
Funding promises for everything from daycare to transit to housing is also now in limbo.
“We will do a review of the implications for British Columbia of the fact that there were significant pieces of legislation that weren’t passed by the federal government and that there may be implications for funding that that been announced but not delivered,” B.C. Premier David Eby said Tuesday.
“But I’ll be blunt and frank and say that we saw a lot of announcements of funding that weren’t delivered to British Columbia, whether or not the federal government was sitting, so we are prepared for that.”
The one piece of proposed legislation that hasn’t yet passed but will still affect British Columbians is changes to Canada’s capital gains tax.
The Canada Revenue Agency says it will still enforce the new, higher threshold announced last year in the coming tax year until a new government signals differently.